News & Notes

Published 12:00 am, Saturday, August 28, 2010

Scottish church official supports release of Libyan bomber

EDINBURGH, Scotland -- The Scottish government was right to show compassion and to release the Libyan man convicted of the 1988 bombing of PanAm flight 103 over Scotland, an official of the (Presbyterian) Church of Scotland has said.

"The principle behind the release of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi a year ago was right, compassion, and my views haven't changed," the Rev. Ian Galloway, the convener of the church's Church and Society Council, told ENInews.

Al-Megrahi was sentenced in 2001 to a minimum of 27 years in prison for the December 1988 bombing, which killed 270 people in the air and on the ground in the Scottish town of Lockerbie.

He was released by the Scottish government on Aug. 20, 2009, after medical reports suggested he was terminally ill with cancer.

"What has changed is that the man is still alive," said Galloway. "It was originally thought that because of his prostate cancer he had only about three months to live. But it's never possible to gauge a person's life and it's not our job to do that. The decision to release him was correct."

Scotland's first minister, Alex Salmond, faced pressure from four U.S. senators for an independent probe.

"Until such an inquiry is launched, we will not stand by as an injustice remains very much alive in a villa in Tripoli. The American people -- and, indeed, the people of 21 nations who suffered the loss of their beloved ones -- require nothing less," wrote New York's Kristen Gillibrand and Charles Schumer and New Jersey's Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg, all Democrats.

-- Religion News Service

Seton Hall to proceed with class on gay marriage

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. -- It appears Seton Hall University will offer a controversial course on gay marriage over the objections of Newark Archbishop John J. Myers, according to the professor scheduled to teach the class.

The undergraduate seminar course -- called "The Politics of Gay Marriage" -- is to begin Tuesday said W. King Mott, an associate professor of political science.

"The class is happening. I've never heard that it wasn't," said Mott, who has sent the syllabus to the enrolled students.

Last spring, Myers said he was troubled the Catholic university was offering a class that "seeks to promote as legitimate a train of thought that is contrary to what the church teaches." Myers, who serves as a member of the Seton Hall Board of Regents, called on the university to reconsider offering the class.

In June, a dozen members of the board of regents' Mission and Identity Committee began meeting behind closed doors to evaluate the course and make a recommendation. The showdown between the university's academic and religious sides drew national attention from gay rights, education and Catholic groups.

-- Religion News Service

Conservative groups push against hiring rules in federal funding

WASHINGTON -- A coalition of mostly conservative religious organizations is urging Congress to amend a proposed bill that would bar them from making personnel decisions based on religion if they receive government funds to treat mental illness and substance abuse.

A letter sent to every member of Congress, evangelical charities, the U.S. Catholic Bishops, and Orthodox Jews says the bill "would be catastrophic" to their religious freedom.

The bill, would reauthorize funding to treat substance abuse and mental illness, and was introduced in May by Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., who has battled addiction and bipolar disorder.

The bill would outlaw any government funds or contracts with religious organizations that do not agree to "refrain from considering religion or any profession of faith" when making employment decisions.